The Little Paris Bookshop

“But Madame has nothing left. Absolutely nothing, only shattered illusions. She needs just about everything. And that’s where you come in, Monsieur. Give whatever you can. All donations welcome.”

The opening scene of the novel shows Perdu speaking with Madame Bernard and Madame Rosalette, the owner and concierge at 27 Rue Montagnard, respectively. They are describing Catherine, who is moving into the apartment across the hall from Perdu. Their words foreshadow Perdu’s eventual relationship with Catherine.

“You see, I sell books like medicine. There are books that are suitable for a million people, others only for a hundred. There are even medicines—sorry, books—that were written for one person only.”

Perdu explains his belief in The Healing Power of Literature to Max, who has demanded to know why Perdu refused to sell Night to a customer. This passage emphasizes why literature can be such a powerful tool for healing: It can be deeply personal. Perdu’s statement about books potentially being written for only one reader foreshadows his conversation with Samy, in which he tells her that he feels Southern Lights was written just for him.

“But it wouldn’t go away. The damn missing simply wouldn’t go away. He’d only been able to cope by starting to avoid life. He’d locked away the loving with the missing, deep within.”

Just as he has locked the Lavender Room in his apartment, Perdu has locked his love and longing for Manon away inside of him. His response to the grief of losing Manon was to start avoiding anything that might stir up his feelings. The novel begins as external events force Perdu to reopen and face some of those feelings.